100 Words Collection
by gorengal
Summary: My drabbles from the Law & Order 100 and Thursday 100 Plus communities on LJ. We close this collection with Bobby, Alex, and a pair of handcuffs.
1. Pickles

**Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns the characters, I do not.**

**Title: Pickles  
Rating: K  
Count: 100  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Wal-Mart**

* * *

Bobby's case notes were spread over Alex's coffee table. Alex was foraging in her kitchen. She returned to the living room, munching a kosher dill and carrying the biggest jar he'd ever seen. It was half full of pickles swimming in disgusting greenish liquid. 

"Wanna pickle, Bobby?"

"Where in God's name did you get a jar of pickles that big?"

"Wal-Mart, of course." She offered him the jar and he fished one out. "Had pickle cravings when I was pregnant. Saw it and had to get it."

Bobby choked. "Eames, you were pregnant THREE YEARS AGO!"

"Yeah. Good deal, huh?"


	2. Lather Rinse Repeat

**Title: Lather. Rinse. Repeat.  
Rating: K+  
Count: 96  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Reflections, Shadows, or Echoes**

**Note to Penn O'Hara: Quite cheeky!**

* * *

After showering I wiped steam from the mirror and stared at my reflection. I carefully squeezed water from my hair with a towel…rubbing caused breakage and frizz. I fingered Paul Mitchell leave-in conditioner through my hair. Next I shook the can of salon mousse, sprayed a dollop in my palm and gently scrunched it in. My stylist makes a fortune in product commissions from me. 

Checking the mirror again I shook my head slightly to loosen the strands. Satisfied it would dry evenly, I finished getting ready for work.

_Curly hair's a bitch_, thought Captain Ross.


	3. Worthless

**Title: Worthless (A post-ep for _Renewal_)  
Rating: T  
Count: 103  
Genre: Apparently I also write angst…who knew?  
Challenge: Reflections, shadows, or echoes**

* * *

_Worthless bastard._

His drunken mother's voice echoed in Logan's brain. He wasn't good enough, smart enough. Nothing was enough for her. He signaled the bartender.

_Worthless bastard._

Logan had one soul-connecting conversation with Holly. They'd spent the night just talking and he never once thought about getting her into bed. Well, maybe once, but the shadow of something bigger was there.

But he couldn't protect Holly from her ex, couldn't keep her from jumping off the roof.

_Worthless bastard._

"I'm not dead, Mike." And now he was seeing a friggin' ghost. He gulped the last of his drink, signaling for another.

_Worthless bastard._


	4. Affliction

**Title: Affliction  
Count: 103  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: What they deserve, What they get**

* * *

"It's your own fault, Bobby."

"Not helping, Eames."

"You'd think you'd know better at your age. Didn't you pay attention in health class?"

"Eames!"

"Well, if you had abstained you wouldn't be waiting at the pharmacy for a prescription now."

"Sometimes I can't help myself. I see a good-looking…."

Alex snorted. "Listen, Bobby…you need to start thinking with your brain instead of…."

"Prescription ready for Goren," called the pharmacist. Bobby paid and ushered his partner outside.

"You got what you deserve, Bobby. That's all I'm sayin'."

Goren winced, pressing his fist against his chest. _Eames is right…that's the last time I order pastrami_.


	5. Congratulations

**Title: Congratulations  
Count: 107  
Genre: Angst lite  
Challenge: What they deserve, What they get

* * *

**

Eames opened the card in the enormous floral arrangement, but she already knew.

Twelve years ago her partner, Bobby Goren, fizzled out after a horrendous year: her kidnapping, his mother's death, Brady. Time off became extended leave became early retirement. He rebuffed Alex's attempts at communication until she finally gave up.

Eames buried herself in work to combat her anger and loneliness. She excelled at the civil service exams, which earned her the rank of captain. Ross, when he retired, lobbied hard for her appointment to MCS. Reading the card in her new office, she had to push back tears.

_Captain Eames,  
__I told you so.  
__Goren_


	6. Either Way

**Title: Either Way  
Count: 106  
Genre: Angst  
Challenge: Boiling under the surface**

* * *

_Months later, Goren still could feel his fingers biting into the flesh and cartilage of Brady's neck…._

Holding Brady against the stone wall, Goren's hands closed around his throat.

"Do it! They won't stop you! You have it in you!" Brady screamed.

Goren watched Brady's face morph into his mother's…his father's…Frank's…Declan Gage's…Jo Gage's. He heard Jo's voice from Brady's mouth. "Dad said you could've gone either way."

Bobby squeezed harder, choking off Jo's words, then threw himself away from Brady with a roar. Sobbing and collapsing on the prison table, Bobby knew Dec…and Brady…had been wrong.

Killing would never be his way.


	7. Get Away

**Title: Get Away  
Count: 100  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: I need a vacation  
**

* * *

Megan Wheeler awoke in her vacation rental on Santorini. The white cottages, terraced around the island, overlooked the Aegean.

Sun sparkled over the water and Megan smelled salt air and strong, Greek coffee. She smiled at the strong, Greek man pouring her a cup.

"Thanks, Niko," she said to the beautiful young man with dark curls and lean muscles. He allowed her a sip before bringing his full lips down to hers and….

"Wheeler? Who the hell is Niko?" Logan looked at her quizzically, waiting for her to exit their unmarked sedan.

_Damn_, she groaned. _I so need a vacation_.


	8. Parade Duty

**Title: Parade Duty  
Count: 108  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: My Country 'Tis of Thee  
A/N: Happy Fourth of July! Happy (belated) Canada Day!**

* * *

Sweat collected under Eames' body armor and uniform. She sounded a warning on her whistle, sending kids back to the curb.

_Fourth of July parade duty in Brooklyn…damn Bobby for dragging me into this. _They were being punished after news cameras caught Goren and Stabler's turf battle at a crime scene last week.

Alex dialed Benson's cell. "What's your location?"

"Alleyway off 101st. Rotting garbage and hot sun. You?"

"Same, at the park entrance." Eames closed her phone.

"Hey, Bobby? Benson and Stabler are eating lemon ice under a beach umbrella."

Eames hid a grin at Goren's murderous look. She planned on busting his balls until Labor Day.


	9. More Parade Duty

**Title: More Parade Duty  
Count: 109  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: My Country 'Tis of Thee  
A/N: Chapter 8 redux, Benson and Stabler's point of view.**

* * *

Benson pulled at her body armor and cursed her partner. She and Stabler were working crowd control at Brooklyn's Independence Day parade after his argument with another detective was featured on the news...Stabler and Goren had nearly come to blows at a crime scene.

Benson's cell rang. "What's your location?" asked Goren's partner.

"Alleyway off 101st. Rotting garbage and hot sun. You?"

"Same, at the park entrance."

She disconnected as Elliot approached. "What's up, Liv?"

"Eames said Goren saved three kids from a runaway float. Mayor's giving him a commendation."

Elliot's face turned purple. "Son of a bitch!"

_Eames was right_, she thought, hiding her smile. _Revenge is sweet_.


	10. Happenstance

**Title: Happenstance  
Count: 224  
Genre: General  
Challenge: Crossover. Author's choice for subject, but must include characters from at least two of the franchises. We're allowed 100 words per L&O franchise...I chose CI and the Mothership.**

* * *

_October 1993_

Wiping his hands on a towel, Lewis entered his office. He'd owned the autobody shop for four years and had three employees. A high school student came in three afternoons a week to answer the phone and keep the books.

"How was school?"

She shrugged. "S'ok."

Lewis sat behind his desk. "What's up?"

"My dad's on my case about what I'm going to do with my life."

Lewis laughed. "Took a run-in with the cops to get me here."

Her eyes widened. "You're a criminal?"

"No! I was 17, my best friend Bobby left for college, and I was pissed off. I got drunk in this industrial park and started breaking windows."

"No way!"

"Yeah. A cop on stakeout heard the glass. He grabbed my shirt, started yelling. Anyway, this detective…Briscoe…took pity on me. Instead of arresting me he took me to the body shop owner the next day and arranged for me to work off the broken windows. And the rest…."

"…is history," she finished. "Scared straight, huh? I come from a family of cops, you know."

"Listen, there are worse things you can do with your life." Lewis headed back to the shop floor.

Nina Cassady shrugged and got back to work, but that night she thought maybe she would check out the police academy brochures her dad kept leaving around.

* * *

**A/N: For those who don't watch the Mothership, Nina Cassady was Detective Green's new partner last season. She replaced Detective Fontana, who replaced Lennie Briscoe.**


	11. Stirred Up

**Title: Stirred Up  
Count: 100  
Genre: General with a bit of fluff  
Challenge: All things mundane (character must engage in an everyday task)  
A/N: A conversation between Bobby and his brother during the coffee shop scene in Endgame.**

* * *

Sitting at the coffee shop's worn counter, Bobby's lips turned up slightly at the corners as his brother poured nearly a third of the sugar jar into his cup. 

"What?" Frank asked, spoon poised.

"That's how Eames takes her coffee."

"Eames? Ohhh…your _partner_." He snorted and dropped the spoon into his mug.

Bobby shook his head. "We…we're detectives, Frank. Partners, an...and friends," he said, waving his outstretched hands between them. "Nothing more to it."

Frank stirred his sweetened coffee, the battered spoon clinking against the heavy mug, and smirked. "I thought you were supposed to be the smart one, Bobby."


	12. Are We There Yet?

**Title: Are We There Yet?  
Count: 107  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Another for the Mundane challenge  
A/N: NYC traffic is bad, yet we never see Goren and Eames in a jam when heading to a scene or to interview a witness. Let's take a look now...**

* * *

Alex hated being stuck in traffic with Goren. When the vehicle wasn't moving, Bobby bounced around like he had ants in his pants…fiddled with the radio…flipped the visor down a dozen times…opened the glove box another dozen.

Thanks to a long car trip with her sister, her nephew, and a SpongeBob backpack full of coloring books and crayons, Alex devised a plan to ease the pain of commutes with Bobby.

Next time they were stuck on the LIE, Bobby reached for the glove box. "Hey! Sudoku Master Puzzles! Wonder where this came from," he said, grabbing his mechanical pencil.

Alex smiled. "Yeah, I wonder."


	13. What a Witch

**Title: What a Witch  
Count: 103  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Magic**

* * *

"Ow! Did you put a tack on my chair, Wheeler?" Logan rubbed his posterior.

"Of course not. What am I, in junior high?" As Logan opened his mouth Wheeler pointed at him. "Don't say I look like it or I _will_ put a tack on your chair."

He shut up and inspected the seat. "Geeze, that hurt like a son of a…."

"What did you find out from Rodgers?"

"She threw me out."

"What did you do now?"

Logan smirked. "Who, me?"

_In the morgue…_

Dr. Rodgers replaced the pushpin in her corkboard and put away the little doll with a plaid necktie.


	14. What a Witch 2

**Title: What a Witch 2: Witch Doctor  
Count: 105  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Magic  
A/N: A continuation of my last drabble, because people seem certain that Dr. Rodgers has many of those little dolls...**

* * *

After locking up the Logan doll, Dr. Rodgers resumed her lunch.

Too bad Barek had to leave Major Case. She was becoming suspicious of the ME, so Rodgers cast a spell to transfer her from 1PP.

She fashioned a Goren doll after a particularly maddening session with him in the morgue, but didn't use it…she didn't dare interfere with his "magic gut." Eames hadn't required a doll yet, although Rodgers was thinking about doing something to help her beat that sugar addiction.

The only doll that got more use than Logan's was John Munch's.

Where did people think those crazy conspiracy theories came from anyway?


	15. Proof

**Title: Proof  
Count: 101  
Genre: Angst lite  
Challenge: Antiques Roadshow. What personal possessions are meaningful to our heroes?**

* * *

Wheeler touched her beer bottle to Logan's, toasting another solve. The gold band around Logan's ring finger caught the dim light of the bar.

"I didn't think you were the school spirit type."

A thick eyebrow arched in question.

Wheeler nodded toward his police academy ring. "You know...class rings, school sweatshirts."

Logan snorted and took a long drink. "I'm not."

Wheeler's own brows rose dubiously, and Logan looked away. Silence stretched across the table.

"My, uh…mom said I'd never amount to anything. But she was wrong." He tapped the ring against the glass bottle. "And I see the proof every day."


	16. Confession of a Crime Scene Photographer

**Title: Confession of a Crime Scene Photographer  
Count: 108  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: The little people (CSU, secretaries, court clerks, etc.)  
A/N: Profanity present  
**

* * *

_  
That big ox Goren better get out of my way so I can shoot this body already. Jesus, these freakin' detectives think they solve cases on their own…where would they be without the evidence we find and catalog?_

_Finally, the ox moves…I'll just set up right here and…what the fuck? Oh, sorry Lord. Cursing in church is definitely a sin. But what the hell is Goren doing now? Climbing on the freakin' pew and GODDAMN IT! WHY IS HE PUSHING DOWN ON MY HEAD? Jesus H. Christ!_

_I just took the Lord's name in vain again, in church! I'm going to hell._

_God, I hate that fucking Goren._


	17. Tempting Fate

**Title: Tempting Fate  
Count: 265  
Genre: General  
Challenge: Written for the Jinxed challenge at Thursday 100 Plus (more than 100 words allowed).**

* * *

In their months at the police academy, Alex Eames and her female classmates sometimes needed to escape the testosterone. Those evenings were spent at Rickey's, a bar not frequented by police recruits.

It was in the back booths at Rickey's where Alex loudly denounced cops who had sex with their partners. She thought female cops got a raw deal as they usually shouldered most of the blame when partners fraternized. Cop wives seemed to think their husbands were lambs to the slaughter when assigned to work with a woman. So, lifting her margarita glass, Alex swore she would never, ever fall in love with her partner.

A few years later she married a fellow officer, but they hadn't been partners. Joe's life was cut short by a bullet, the luck of the draw for a beat cop. And when it would've been so easy to turn to her Vice partner for comfort, Alex kept her vow.

Now she was a detective with the elite Major Case Squad. All eyes were on them, at least the important eyes were, making it crucial for Alex to stay on the straight and narrow. Tonight, sharing a pitcher of beer with her partner of one year, Alex focused on Bobby's elegant hands as they poured her another glass…on his full lips as they curved in an easy smile…on the warmth of his knee pressed against hers…and on his soft, rich voice as he shared a joke.

Alex thought about the vow she swore 13 years before and shook her head ruefully. _I'm screwed._ And she threw back her head and laughed.


	18. A Girl's Best Friend?

**Title: A Girl's Best Friend?  
Count: 100  
Genre: Angst lite  
Challenge: Friends and enemies  
A/N: Reference to "One"**

* * *

The crime scene was a neat brick home in a nice neighborhood. Looked like some kids came home early and surprised a burglary crew using the house to access a diamond vault next door. They had been shot, along with one of the jewel thieves.

Eames looked up at her partner. "Men come and go, but diamonds…"

"Diamonds don't keep you warm at night," Goren said.

Alex felt the diamond pendant resting against her skin. Her widow's necklace, as she thought of it, made from the engagement ring her late husband had given her.

"Don't I know it," she replied.


	19. Bobby's Lesson

**Title: Goren's Lesson  
Count: 100  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Changes  
**

* * *

Bobby Goren frowned at the meager contents of the first aid cabinet located in the MCS break room. It held three tiny circular Band-Aids, one tube of antibiotic ointment (expired four years ago), a handful of antiseptic wipes, 20 packets of Midol tablets, one condom (huh?), and a roll of silver duct tape.

He tore open an antiseptic wipe and swabbed the bleeding cut above his left eye. Hissing at the sting of the rubbing alcohol, Goren committed the day's lesson to memory:

When suggesting your partner's moodiness might be caused by the Change, be prepared to duck.


	20. Obligation

**Title: Obligation  
Count: 133  
Genre: Is "partnershippy" a genre?  
Challenge: Promises at Thursday 100 Plus**

* * *

Alex Eames made many promises in her forty-some years.

Childhood promises to parents to behave, and to siblings to keep misbehavior a secret.

A promise at the police academy to uphold the Constitution and protect citizens. Several promises to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, every time she appeared in a courtroom…so many she lost count.

There were white lace and promises at her wedding to Joe as she pledged to love, honor, and cherish him above all others. Then eight years later she made vain promises to God, asking for Joe's life to be spared.

A wordless promise to her partner during the hard cases…broken children or deadbeat fathers or Nicole Wallace. It was perhaps the most important promise of them all:

_I won't let you fall._


	21. Carbon Copy

**Title: Carbon Copy  
****Count: 95  
****Genre: Humor  
****Challenge: Magazines

* * *

**

Arriving home after a long day of interviewing witnesses and annoying her current partner, Detective Bishop shook her red hair out of its ponytail and changed into silk pajamas. She poured herself a glass of chardonnay and settled primly on her white sofa with the latest issue of _NYPD Detectives Quarterly_. As usual she turned right to the Movers and Shakers column where the words "Major Case" caught her eye.

"Detective Nola Falacci joins the Major Case Squad on temporary assignment," she read aloud. Studying the picture of the slim, young redhead, Bishop sneered.

"Wannabe."


	22. Another Thursday Evening

**Title: Another Thursday Evening  
Count: 104  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Time**

* * *

Goren tapped the dial of his watch. "Eames? What time do you have?" he asked across their desks.

"It's 6:30…twenty minutes after the last time you asked. What is with you today?" She finished typing the preliminary notes on their new case and selected print.

"I…don't really know," he replied. "I just feel like…I have somewhere to be later."

"Concentrate, Bobby. We have a new case to solve."

"That's another thing. Have you noticed we always catch cases on Thursdays lately?" He tapped his watch again. "Are you sure…."

Eames pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered, "Thank God it's almost Friday."

* * *

**A/N: I've been reminded that not everyone lives in the US, so some readers would not realize CI now airs on Thursday nights here.**


	23. Six Weeks

**Title: Six Weeks  
Count: 93  
Genre: Humor  
Challenge: Patient**

* * *

Logan tuned back in to what his temporary partner was saying.

"…like I would be caught dead at a PTA meeting. My kid's teacher is delusional. I swear she belongs in Bellevue…."

Tuning out the words again, Logan shuddered as Falacci brought the bright purple coffee mug to her lips. What self-respecting cop would drink from a purple polka-dotted mug with the word Princess on it? He shook his head and resumed his inner chant for patience.

_Only six more weeks until Freckles gets back. Only six more weeks until Freckles gets back…._


	24. Attention

**Title: Attention  
Count: 102  
Genre: Partnershippy...and sappy  
Challenge: November**

* * *

As usual on Veterans Day, Bobby Goren shaved and wore his dog tags under his shirt. He didn't like to talk about his Army service during the first Persian Gulf War, the things he witnessed, so he was grateful none of his colleagues really asked.

Except Eames. It was one of those things they discussed during long stakeouts. Eames never made a fuss, but she did let him know every November that she appreciated his service to his country. When Bobby arrived at his desk that morning Eames smiled and raised her right hand in a quick salute.

And it was enough.

* * *

**A/N: I've decided to close out this collection after drabble 25. I'll still be writing them for LJ, but I'm not sure when I'll re-post them here. Your comments have made this great fun for me, so to thank you I'm going to ask for ideas a la Squarey (who is a writing machine...she's writing much faster than I can read them!) I will take your ideas (a phrase, a character from any book/show/film, a song title, a food, whatever) and combine them in one cracktastic drabble. Ok, it'll be a long drabble. And I'll guarantee the first five responses will make it in...then I'll do my best to work in the others. Edited to clarify: I'll take one idea from the first five people who respond, then try to add the rest. looks at obsessedwithstabler ;)**


	25. Bound

**A/N: After the last installment I asked for ideas for a final "cracktastic" drabble. I think the answers sent my muse into hiding. She's back now, but I'm still not sure what to do with the suggestions. So, instead I'm going to close out the collection with this Bobby drabble. We think you'll enjoy it. :)**

Title: Bound  
Count: 100  
Challenge: Sleep

* * *

Lying on his back, right arm flung over his head, Goren pulled at the handcuffs connecting his wrist to the headboard. The room was dark, just a hint of light from the lamppost outside slipped past the heavy shade on the window. He felt Alex's breath on his face as she whispered his name.

"Bobby? Did you hear me?" Eames waved her hand in front of his face. "I said if you don't go home and get at least eight hours sleep, I'm gonna cuff you to your bed."

Goren sighed and closed his leather binder. "Yeah. I heard you."


End file.
